Posts Tagged ‘health & diet’

The Scientification of Food

Tuesday, October 11th, 2011

I have been unbelievably thrilled over the past few years to see people start paying attention to what they are eating again. I know obesity rates are still rising, but I am also seeing more organic products on shelves, more places carrying sustainably raised and cruelty free meats, and in general am starting to feel that people are getting more interested in going back to nature when it comes to eating.

And while I think it’s great for people to be learning what is in their food and learning about carbs, proteins, vitamins, and super foods, I still can’t help but feeling like people approach eating and being healthy a little bit too scientifically. Certainly it’s great to know how much Vitamin C is in an orange, that tomatoes are high in lycopene, and the benefits associated with eating garlic, ginger, or turmeric. But none of these things on their own […]

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Vegetarians, personal beliefs, travel, and cultural sensitivity

Friday, September 24th, 2010
Insects at a Thailand Market

Insects at a Thailand Market

As I’ve written recently, I have been dabbling with vegetarian, vegan, and raw diets. I have also been honest in saying that while shifting my diet, I do still eat meat and dairy on occasion. I won’t go into extensive detail about the reasons for this since I’ve explained them in the past, but I will say that it’s still something I still think about often. And after seeing Anthony Bourdain speak last week, I’ve been thinking about diet choices, personal beliefs, and how they relate in the context of travel and culture.

I am a big fan of Anthony Bourdain, and I don’t think it is news to anyone that he is very outspoken in his dislike for vegetarians and vegans. His claim during the presentation (and in interviews I’ve read) is that he […]

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Diet overload, healthy choices, and which label fits?

Tuesday, May 4th, 2010

Health and diet has been something I’ve been reading a lot about lately. I don’t mean diet as it pertains to losing weight, I am talking about diet as it pertains to lifestyle and being healthy. Until recently I have for the most part always eaten the Standard American Diet (SAD). While I knew there wasn’t something quite right about it, I never really sorted it out until now. (Though I’m sure it will be an evolving process, and my feelings are open to change.)

As I’ve written recently, I’ve been eating mostly vegan, and have even experimented with a raw diet in the past. But I have not sworn off of meat completely, since I do believe that we have evolved to truly be omnivores. That said, I do believe in veganism and what it stands for, and I do firmly believe factory farming is wrong (on many levels). […]

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Experimenting with a Vegan diet

Wednesday, March 10th, 2010

I wrote about a year ago about my adventures with a raw diet. It lasted about a month, which was just fine with me since it was experimental. But in the process I did learn a lot about food, especially about how you can find plenty of food that is raw, not meat, and IS NOT SALAD. I point that out because this comes as quite a shock to some people. Yes, there is plenty out there to eat that is vegan and raw.

I won’t go into the benefits of eating raw, that is a topic for another day. Today’s post is to say that I’m at the diet experiments again, though not raw this time. This time it’s more of a wholesome, sustainable and mostly vegan. I say mostly because I still believe that eating meat is ok. Certainly not every day like some people, but if it […]

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The best, yet least discussed, solution to healthcare

Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009

With all of this raging healthcare debate lately, it seems that the focus (besides the cost I mean) is on medical care and fixing people. While I of course think each person has a right to have affordable medical coverage, I also think the priorities of our health care system (now and in the future regardless of what Congress comes up with) are wholly messed up. We all know that the majority of the money in the system is spent on curing and healing those who are not well. But what you don’t hear very often is the word “prevention”.

Sure, in some ways you do, as in don’t smoke, exercise daily, eat from the major food groups. But if you go to the doctor with high blood pressure, or any of the many issues related to obesity, the doctor doesn’t ask how often you eat fast food and […]

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Curing acne with a healthy diet

Saturday, October 3rd, 2009

I’ve been wanting to write about this topic for a while, but never felt comfortable sharing it. However, today I just decided that I will share, if for no reason other than to help someone who might find this page through a web search. So if you’re one of my regular readers, feel free to skip this one, unless of course it’s of interest to you.

I’ve been pretty lucky in that I’ve never had a terrible problem with acne. But around the early part of high school, I started getting some on my back. It was never terrible, but at that age it was enough to make me self conscious. At the time, I sort of just figured I was an unlucky teenager, and hoped it would go away as I got older. I never had any clue that it could ever be related to diet. So even though it […]

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How to eat local – local eating resources

Friday, June 26th, 2009
local organic produce

Photo credit: Kenn Wilson

…By only eating foods produced in their community, region or country, adherents, known as locavores, aim to reduce pollution and support ethical farming practices.

With more and more people defecting from supermarket to farmer’s market, a number of websites have appeared to help users find local food in their own communities…

Here are some great resources about local eating:

Thanks to Matador Life for this info, See the full article here

Goodbye 2008, Hello 2009

Friday, January 2nd, 2009

I am not big on resolutions, as most of them seem to just fade in time. But from time to time I re-assess my life and try to make some positive changes. For this New Year, this is what I thought to myself this morning:

I will learn to speak my mind, follow my heart, and live how I wish to live. I will be healthier and be more moderate with my vices.

Pretty simple, right?

Though I enjoy my life, and am generally pretty healthy, I could really do a lot to positively improve myself as well. There are many days where I wonder how I’ve gotten to this point and what I can change to improve. Most of these thoughts center on my own growth, as well as my career choices.

I talk a lot about diet, travel, and other things like that. […]

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